The Russo Brothers are preparing to launch their most ambitious project yet with Prime Video‘s Citadel, a multifaceted mothership spy thriller series that will act as the basis for future interconnected international spinoffs set across the world. At another streamer, however, the brothers are cooking up another massive project to follow up another of their recent undertakings—The Gray Man. Netflix had a major hit on its hands when it launched the star-studded action thriller last year and, understandably, both they and the Russos wanted more. At the world premiere of Citadel in London, Collider‘s own Steve Weintraub asked the directors for an update regarding the sequel to the film.
With a star-studded cast including Ryan Gosling in his first film role since 2018’s First Man alongside Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and many more, The Gray Man adapted Mark Greaney‘s 2009 novel into an ultra-expensive thriller following Gosling‘s Court Gentry, aka Sierra Six, on the run amidst a global manhunt brought on by his sociopathic former colleague Lloyd Hansen (Evans). Although it received a mediocre reception from critics—including Collider‘s own Ross Bonaime—it drew enough eyes and interest to land it among Netlfix‘s Top 10 films of the year among other massive projects from throughout 2022 like The Adam Project and Purple Hearts. Both the sequel and a spinoff got the green light in July of last year with Gosling slated to return to the role of Six, but the Russos envisioned a cinematic universe from the beginning. As soon as the audience latched onto their action-packed world of charismatic spies and dastardly villains, everything was a go.
While the brothers couldn’t give much away on The Gray Man 2, Joe Russo was able to reaffirm that AbGBO was locked in on writing the sequel. He teased:
“We’re in the middle of it right now. We’re in the middle of working on The Gray Man 2 script, so, again, everything is about the story. We are hard at work, sleeves rolled up, and more to come soon.”
The Gray Man 2 Is Just One of Several Projects The Russos Have Planned
It’s likely a Gray Man sequel won’t be along for some time as the Russos continue writing the story. The $200 million film will only get bigger as it expands the Court Gentry saga which now spans across eleven novels. Not to mention, the brothers have a lot on their plate at the moment between their Citadel universe and their latest film The Electric State, which wrapped filming back in February. If the first film’s brisk production time was any indication, however, expect things to move quickly once work begins in full on the sequel.
In the meantime, their ambitious television project Citadel is set to premiere on April 28. Starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, it follows the agents of the eponymous spy organization in the years after it was brought down by a traitor. Eight years after the fall, Agent Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) reaches out to Agents Mason Kane (Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Chopra-Jonas) to jog their lost memories and bring them back into the fold to combat the syndicate Manticore. Like The Gray Man, the series boasts a massive budget and plenty of stars, action, and ambition with international spin-offs planned in Italy, India, and beyond.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on The Gray Man 2 and any spinoffs Netflix and the Russo Brothers may have planned for the franchise in the future. The first film is available on the streamer now.
via Collider